There is just something about "classic" black and white portraits

[removed account4]

There is something about black and white portraits done before WW2. I can't explain it. Maybe it is the film because professional portraits were done with large format film, maybe it is the way they were printed, but there is something about
them that gives photography a timeless nature.

Can someone explain this to me.. Why are olde portraits so dang impressive!

Besides now, what is the golden age of black and white photography ?

John

 

[juan]

Ortho film? Lighting? Retouching? All were used.

 

[Kino]

Yeah, I think its contact printing, good lighting, special portrait paper, and ^ listed above...

 

[btaylor]

Oh my, I love ‘em too. I have half a dozen books on Hollywood publicity portraits from the ‘20s through the ‘50s.
Of course it’s a combination of factors but for me the biggest were lighting (need decent sized studio and I used tungsten fresnels, reflectors) and a big negative 8x10 (short DOF, smooth tonal gradations).
Short of time now, but I want to get back into it- it’s a lots of fun. Picked up some X-ray (ortho) film but haven’t had a chance to use it yet.

 

[jtk]

Portrait lenses (not Tessar). No music. They took their time. Professional attire assumed.

 

[jtk]

Ortho film? Lighting? Retouching? All were used.

Ortho film was used especially for male portraits...they found the skin of men darker (redder) than of women (makeup).

 

[btaylor]

Portrait lenses (not Tessar). No music. They took their time. Professional attire assumed.

When I get back into it I will wear a dress shirt, tie, slacks and a cardigan then mount the Verito on the Deardorff. That should set the mood.

 

[removed account4]

i've been looking at old family portraits from between IDK 1910 and the early 30s and there is just something ..
not just the formal nature of the people and seriousness of the occasion, but the lens and magic... karsh was someone who
could come close to the pre ww2 portraits, but it wasn't the same .. ( and he was using a commerical ektar )

 

[Kino]

I just found the May 1944 issue of "The Camera" which has a large section on Glamor Photography with articles by Richard Beattie, Bruno of Hollywood, James Kreigsmann, Pagano, Inc., and Dorthy Wilding. Wonder if I'd get in trouble if I scanned it and put up a copy of this section? I think the magazine stopped publishing in the late 1950's...

 

[Ko.Fe.]

They say something magical happens if portrait is taken at slow shutter speed.
It was even some realistic explanation, but I forgot it.

Golden time is now. At least for gear choice. I still print on paper from previous century, single grade or I could do it digital and with inks.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I would have said, "There is just something about "classic" black and white photographs."

 

[darkosaric]

I think it is a mix of more than one thing: lighting, film, paper and those technical stuff, but also fashion, people had different stand and different life style, some nostalgia and emotional reaction in our eyes too.